About Me

I was a reporter and columnist for 40 years for a chain of newspapers in the suburbs of Chicago. I'm a military veteran having served in the United States Army Combat Engineers (Cpl. E-4) and a Korean War veteran with an Honorable Discharge from the Armed Forces of the United States of America

This video gives you an idea what our troops are going through when they are involved in a night fight in Afghanistan. Be sure to turn up your sound and listen to the GI who took this footage during a firefight."ON TOP OF A MOUNTAIN WHEN I NOTICED A WHITE FLASH IN THE DISTANCE, A CAMP WAS BEING ATTACKED WITH MORTAR'S BEING FIRED BY THE TALIBAN IN THE MOUNTAINS NEARBY, YOU CAN SEE THE INCOMING HITTING THE CAMP AND THE OUTGOING HITTING THE TALIBAN WITH A GRAND FINALEE LIGHT SHOW USING NIGHT VISION." 1/221 CAV LAS VEGAS NV PRT KUNAR SECFOR TURN UP YOUR SOUNDWATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/4PXKPemzSKw&hl=en&fs=1CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEOSubmitted by BILL CORCORAN, editor, CORKSPHERE, http://corksphere.blogspot.comcorkcol@aol.com

This video is not for young people and should be viewed with caution, but it shows the kind of people our troops are up against in Afghanistan. The video is very, very gruesome and shows the Taliban attacking an American soldier. Watch with extreme caution. WARNING: Not suitable for young people.TURN UP YOUR SOUNDWATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/iL8OdftfpbQ&hl=en&fs=1CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY THIS VIDEO

WASHINGTON — The paratroopers of Chosen Company had plenty to worry about as they began digging in at their new outpost on the fringe of a hostile frontier village in eastern Afghanistan.By THOM SHANKERc.2009 New York Times News Service

Intelligence reports were warning of militants massing in the area. As the paratroopers looked around, the only villagers they could see were men of fighting age idling in the bazaar. There were no women and children, and some houses looked abandoned. Through their night scopes they could see furtive figures on the surrounding mountainsides.

A few days later, they were almost overrun by 200 insurgents.

That firefight, a debacle that cost nine American lives in July 2008, has become the new template for how not to win in Afghanistan. The calamity and its roots have been described in bitter, painstaking detail in an unreleased Army history, a devastating narrative that has begun to circulate in an initial form even as the military opened a formal review this week of decisions made up and down the chain of command.

Al Jazeera has obtained a copy of the Taliban's new military code of conduct, approved by their Afghan leader, Mullah Omar.The document outlines the use of suicide bombings, guidelines on the treatment of hostages and how to win the battle for the hearts of the Afghan population.As Al Jazeera's James Bays reports from the capital, Kabul, the book offers rare insight into how the Taliban is evolving in Afghanistan.

Life in the mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan can be a lonely place as witnessed by this video which shows a small unit of only six US soldiers stationed at CAMP JOYCE a remote forward operating base near the border.WATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/0cDfOkoYWLY&hl=en&fs=1CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARRROW TO PLAY VIDEO